By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets struggled for
direction in early action on Friday, as investors cautiously stayed
on the sidelines ahead of the much anticipated nonfarm payrolls
report from the U.S.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index inched 0.1% higher to 291.86, after
closing down 1.2% on Thursday.
Shares of Deutsche Telekom AG climbed 1%, after the company said
its T-Systems unit won a contract to provide cloud services to
Finnish elevator company Kone Oyj
BT Group PLC added 1.8%, after Barclays lifted the telecom firm
to overweight from equal weight.
For the broader European stock markets, investors were anxiously
awaiting the latest report on nonfarm jobs in the U.S. along with
the unemployment rate to gauge if there is any improvement in the
labor market. A solid take on the unemployment situation could
actually spur a selloff in the equity markets, as it may trigger
the U.S. Federal Reserve to consider scaling back its bond
purchases.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last month that a tapering could
begin in coming months if data continue to improve, fueling worries
the $85-billion-a-month liquidity injection into the market will
soon come to an end.
U.S. stock futures pointed a lower open on Wall Street.
Back in Europe, insurance firms were among notable gainers after
Citigroup lifted the financial-services sector to overweight from
neutral. Shares of Allianz SE added 0.8%, Swiss Re AG put on 0.9%
and AXA SA climbed 0.5%.
France's CAC 40 index traded 0.2% higher at 3,820.14, while
Germany's DAX 30 index added 0.2% to 8,113.28.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1% to 6,332.60.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires